Today is Saturday, which means there are only 10 days left until the most important exam of my life—the university entrance exam.
This exam will determine whether my youth will lead me to glory or to failure. My older brother is a prime example. He passed the exam and gained everything: the admiration of others, the confidence in every step he takes, and a constant entourage of beautiful girls. He even managed to date three girlfriends at once.
His life is nothing short of divine, a radiant halo of blessings that makes everyone envious.
I, Noah Dark, his younger brother, will follow in his footsteps and become just as talented and outstanding as he is.
Tonight's party at the club—the one I had to lie to my parents about, pretending I was going to extra classes to prepare for the exam—is actually the final party with my closest buddies before we part ways. Looking around, not a single one of my friends has a girlfriend.
"Birds of a feather flock together," as they say.
...
Late at night, when my family was already asleep, I returned home alone, drunk and exhausted. I collapsed onto my familiar bed, my head spinning and my body heavy with fatigue.
"Another night of overindulgence..."
"These friends of mine are always fooling around. I can't keep this up anymore. I need to cut ties with them. I need to move forward. I want a girlfriend."
...
Just as he was about to close his eyes, Noah suddenly heard shouting and screaming echoing in his ears. A cold breeze brushed past him, and the bed beneath him felt unusually rough and prickly.
He opened his eyes to a vast, endless sky filled with countless shimmering stars.
"What is this?"
He patted his head, sat up, and looked around, only to find himself lying on a pile of dry leaves on an unfamiliar hillside.
... Dazed and confused...
"Where am I? I remember being in bed. Maybe this is a dream."
He lay back down and tried to sleep again. But the sensation felt too real—this wasn't a dream.
This place is pitch black, with no lights in sight. The only illumination comes from the golden moon on the horizon. The moon is the biggest and brightest he've ever seen. It's beautiful, surreal, and yet strangely unsettling.
"Why am I here? I'm not injured anywhere. Did I fall asleep at the party, and those guys played a prank by dumping me here?"
"I'm done with these guys. Next time, I'll settle the score with each of them. The echoes are coming from behind. Maybe they're throwing a second party."
Noah suppressed his thoughts of revenge and followed the sounds. As he got closer, the noise became more chaotic, like a group of people fighting. A bright fire lit up a corner of the sky.
When he got close enough to see, he noticed a burning building below. Inside, a group of people were slashing at each other with gleaming knives. The scene was chaotic and brutal... the acrid smell of something burning wafted through the air.
Noah slapped his face. "I can feel it. This isn't a dream. Down there, it's a massacre." Instantly, his hair stood on end, and he ducked down to hide. But after a moment, he cautiously peeked out to observe the situation.
After about 10 minutes, the noise stopped. One side had won, and they split into two groups. One group began gathering all the corpses and burning them. The other group looted the valuables and loaded them onto... horse-drawn carriages before leaving. At the front was a man in white riding a white horse, standing out conspicuously. He must be the leader of this group.
Noah was bewildered.
"Where am I? These people are dressed so strangely, riding horses, using horse-drawn carriages... and that ancient-style architecture? Are they filming a movie? But where are the cameras?"
As the group below moved away, their laughter and chatter grew louder. ("Congratulations, young master, for wiping out this bandit den!")
From above, Noah could hear them clearly, but he couldn't understand a word they were saying. Panic began to spread through him, and he ducked down further, not daring to look anymore.
"These people are speaking a language I've never heard before... Where am I? Was that really a massacre down there?"
After a while, when the group had gone far and the voices faded, Noah, despite his fear, cautiously approached the scene to confirm what had happened.
An ancient-style manor was engulfed in flames, crumbling everywhere. The stench of burnt flesh mixed with the smell of roasted meat... It was nauseating.
Seeing such a horrific scene of mass murder and burning for the first time, Noah's mind struggled to process it.
"This is too terrifying. This is a blatant case of murder and robbery."
Realizing he was in danger, he carefully ran back the way he came to where he had woken up.
Still terrified, Noah sat huddled against a large rock, hugging his knees. His head was still spinning from the alcohol, and he closed his eyes, muttering to himself, "What the hell is this... It must be a dream." Then he fell asleep without realizing it.
...
It started to rain...
Beside the rock, Noah woke up, completely drenched.
Feeling the cold and exhaustion, the memories of what had happened came flooding back.
"So it wasn't a dream... My headache is better now. This place... Could I have traveled through time? What the hell is going on? I'm soaked, the rain won't stop, the wind is howling,.... and there's thunder and lightning. If I don't find shelter, I'll catch a cold, and that would be a real hassle."
Surrounded by mountains and forests, he had no idea where to go. He decided to head back to the manor.
" The bandits were probably long gone by now. Staying here wasn't an option—getting sick from the rain and wind was a certainty. "
"I'll go back to that manor first. My health is what matters most. There are only corpses there anyway."
The heavy raindrops pelted his already soaked body with a splattering sound. The cold, strong wind whipped through the treetops, making them sway violently. The rustling leaves, the thunder, the complete darkness with no lights in sight—it was all overwhelming.
"Don't be scared... I need to find shelter and dry off, or I'll get sick. Don't be scared..."
Failing to reassure himself, he hurriedly ran along the path he remembered.
"Where is this? I'm lost... I'm lost..."
(Scared...) "Calm down, Noah. Panicking won't help."
"The rain is getting heavier. I'll take shelter under that big tree first..."
Standing under the tree, he looked around, but then a thunderclap exploded right above his head.
"Boom!"
Noah's hair stood on end, his heart felt like it was being squeezed, and his chest was hit by an invisible hammer, making it hard to breathe. He collapsed to the ground, clutching his head and gasping for air.
"This isn't working... The rain is too heavy, and there's thunder and lightning... Why did I think standing under a tree was a good idea?"
Another thunderclap rang out above him.
Noah continued in a direction he thought was best.
The heavy, cold raindrops pelted his body with a splattering sound. It was freezing and painful.
Even though he tried to keep his eyes open, his vision was severely limited. All around him were mountains and forests, with no trace of civilization in sight.
Standing on the edge of life and death... His senses began to fade.
"The rain grew heavier.
If I run into bandits now... "
Suddenly, a gust of wind carried a familiar scent.
"It's the smell of burnt meat."
Following the scent against the wind, Noah finally arrived at the manor. The fire had died down, with only a few plumes of smoke rising here and there. The signboard at the entrance was shattered. Inside, a pile of charred corpses emitted the nauseating smell of burnt flesh.
In front of the largest, still-intact building, a headless middle-aged man in luxurious clothing lay on the steps. Half of the building had collapsed.
Walking around, the house was empty except for a few broken pieces of furniture.
" The bandits had truly ransacked the place. Poor owner of this manor. "
In the darkness, with only the sound of the raging rain and howling wind outside, Noah sat in a corner beside the remnants of a fire, staring at the headless corpse in its fur-lined clothing.
"I promise to bury you properly."
It was freezing. Looking at the corpse and its fur coat, he thought, "This is no time to be scared. I want to live."
"Master of this manor, due to the circumstances, I must ask for your forgiveness."
After saying this, Noah bowed deeply, then held his breath and ran over. It took him a while to strip the robe off the corpse and put it on hastily.
Huddled in a corner, staring into the fire, Noah muttered to himself.
"Those bandits are bold and cruel, committing such heinous crimes. Stealing is one thing, but killing an entire family? They'll die a miserable death. Poor people of this manor."
Outside, the wind howled, and the sound of doors and windows banging echoed through the room, accompanied by continuous thunder.
"I'm just a passerby with no power to avenge you. All I can do is report this crime to others."
The storm outside seemed to grow even fiercer.
Sitting in the corner, feeling the warmth of the robe, Noah fell silent, ignoring everything outside.
Suddenly, he found a bronze token in the robe's pocket. It had three tiger heads engraved on it, and on the back was a character—maybe ancient script or Chinese.
As Noah was wondering what to do with the token, a mechanical voice suddenly rang out close to his ear.
"Conditions met. Activating system."
"The Omnipotent Support System greets its host."